Of Gods and Men
by Postapokalypso
Summary: Tony will need Loki's help. And he will also need so much more of him. They feel like all happened for a reason, Loki gave up his attack on New York, Pepper got hurt, them working together. But Loki's reason may have been not as innocent as Tony's.
1. Betrayal

This is a story that has accompanied me everywhere i went the last half year. It kept bugging me, wouldn't leave me alone and eventually came up with some intruiging ideas. Which forced me to write it in the end. I do hope we will have some fun together.

Now...

 **I especially need to thank my two beta readers beyondmyreach** and Debaucheryandthings

 **Those two were harsh on me and after a week of editing the first chapter is finally finished. You two were extremely helpful and you deserve and extra applause to put up with someone like me. It was incredibly fun working and also chatting with you! Thank you guys so much for making the effort**

So thats a lot for you to have fun with and i hope you do! If so, let me know! It's be great to hear that effort paid off. Note that i am no native, any mistake was not intended but can always be pointed out!

 **Have FUN! (or cry. both is okay with me.)**

 _REVENGE IS A CONFESSION OF PAIN_

 _-latin proverb_

* * *

"That was the plan."

* * *

And Thor had told them, his brother was cunning. This had to be a joke. Tony placed the glass on the counter. "Not a great plan." From underneath the bar table, Tony pulled out the colantotte bracelet and slid it around his wrist.

"I have an army," Loki stated.

"We have a HULK," Tony said and picked his glass up.

"I thought the beast had wandered off."

"You're missing the point." With a glass of his most expensive scotch in his hands -might as well, because he might die anyway- Tony approached Loki. His heart hammered in his chest, but he was Tony Stark. He didn't back off..

"There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Your plan's going to fail big time, buddy." Loki's closed in on Tony, looking sinister.

Tony's hand shot towards his bracelet. He had told JARVIS to run the software for the bracelet before Loki let himself into the penthouse, so the setup process should be done by now. He pressed the little screen and it lit up with blue light confirming that Tony's request had been accepted.

"Loosen up." Loki said, closing in on him. "I won't kill you. I merely seek to distract your friends."

"I'll tell you what. Transforming into a unicorn will do." Tony said, stalling for time since his suit had to come all the way up from his workshop.

"What I thought of," Loki drawled, "was something more potent."

Tony felt his heart's speed rise dangerously and tensed. There was never anything good about a super powered guy with an edged spear threatening you. However, he stayed in place, withstood the god's glare and raised his chin. His suit should show up any moment now. Loki couldn't see the cold sweat was forming on his back, neither did he know how dry Tony's mouth was by this point.

"Because how will they have time for me," Loki said, raising the scepter, "when they are so busy fighting you?"

Hell, where was the damn thing?!

A metallic clank resounded as Loki placed the sceptre upon his arc reactor.

Nothing happened.

Loki blinked in surprise. "This usually works."

"Oh, you know," Tony said, swallowing. "Performance issues...one out of five has."

He was disrupted by Loki grabbing his throat. He squeezed until Tony started gasping for breath, the lack of air made his head spin and panic fill his lungs. His head felt like it was going to explode and he struggled to fight free, but Loki's grip was ironclad.

"Two things are endless," Loki whispered, his voice scornful. "The universe and human stupidity." The words barely got through to Tony, who kicked against Loki's legs, against every part of his body in reach, but the god didn't even seem to notice.

Soon Tony´s body grew limp, a feeling of dizziness filling up his head. "Even you, who claims to be a genius among yours truly, are so frail," Loki spoke, then opened his hand and let Tony drop to the floor. He barely managed catching himself with his hands before coughing violently. His throat felt sore.

"You're lucky that mechanic heart is protecting your fragile body."

Tony'd rather have had his armour. He pressed his finger to the screen again and managed to stand up, even if he remained shaky. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse. "It's not exactly a heart. Let´s keep to the facts."

Loki smirked. "That only means that somewhere underneath this piece of scrap metal, there lies" - and he touched the scepter to Tony's chest again, only this time slightly next to the arc reactor - "a real heart."

Tony hadn't imagined before, what mind-control would feel like. Because, quite frankly, it didn't matter and now that he had gotten himself into the situation where it did, he couldn't do anything. He could feel the sharp blade of the scepter through his shirt, and then energy bolted through him as if he was touching an overpowered electric fence. Feelings and memories that couldn't be his own flooded his mind.

They couldn't be his own emotions, for he wasn't that bitter inside. They couldn't be his memories, because they felt distant like a dream you once had. He saw big golden halls with high columns and big gardens, saw people dressed like warriors and fantastic landscapes. He saw Thor walking through a crowd.

As the people cheered him on and called his name, all Tony felt disdain. He saw a blonde woman sitting opposite him. The surrounding room was blurred like an impressionistic painting, but she was clearly visible. He felt lost and sad, there was an emptiness in his chest where trust and safety once had been, but when he laid his eyes upon her, warmth filled his chest.

"You should never feel different," she said, and as she did, her voice grew distant. The ground opened up and he fell. Stars, planets and galaxies rushed by. He experienced the dreamy sensation of endless falling and from somewhere in the wide space around him a eerie voice resounded. It came from everywhere and then again it felt like it merely resounded from within his heart.

"I know who you are."

His gut clenched. Tony knew the sensation from riding roller coasters, but he wasn't afraid. He felt numb.

"I know your deepest longing, Asgardian, and I can take you there."

Tony hit the ground. Light flooded his vision and when he pushed himself up, he felt dirt, stones and grass underneath his fingertips. Pain shot through his body and it made him grow so desperate, he started to cry.

Someone hit the ground with a thump, neatly landing on his feet. "Loki! Don't cry, come on...really, I didn't mean to.."

Through the curtain tears that blinded him, he saw a young blond boy. Thor, he thought. He looked crestfallen.

He started to cry once more, wailing, until a big firm hand caressed his cheeks and a voice filled with compassion spoke to him. "Now, now, why are you crying? What happened?"

Rage welled up inside him. "Thor! He pushed me off the tree! He pushed me!"

"We were playing!" Thor exclaimed. His mother shot him a harsh glare and he cast his eyes down, staring at the grass. "Loki asked me to play. He said, 'What would you do if I were a frost giant. You can't fight a frost-giant.' I wanted to prove him wrong."

An expression of shock crossed the blonde woman's face for a split second, then she smiled again. She said something, surely trying to settle the fight between the two brothers, but Tony didn't hear her anymore. His head resounded with angry words, fueled by desperate feelings.

"The frost-giants are monsters."

"Do they still live?"

"They do."

Mothers tell their children stories about frost-giants to scare them. They are monsters. Monsters deserve to get pushed down a tree. They deserve to die.

If all they deserve is fall, then I might as well let go.

Thinking this, Tony opened his eyes, staring right into Thor's. His hand was clutched around a spear and he was hanging in mid-air. Where he expected, feeling panic and fear, at the risk of falling, he felt nothing. He was numb. And nothing made sense anymore.

And then, all of a sudden, it ended. All he saw now were the marble tiles of his apartment. It took him a moment to raise his gaze. His head was still feeling dizzy after the strange electrical sensation. When Tony realized where he was, everything came to him again - New York, Loki in his apartment pointing the scepter at him, the images and memories that followed.

Tony shook off his residue confusion and looked up, seeing Loki staring at him. His breathing was so heavy, Tony could clearly see his lower teeth row.

"Wow, is that USB 9.0? You are advanced," Tony said. "Hey, what was on the Tony Stark show? Or does this only work in one direction? Would be a pity, I have been pretty entertaining - "

Loki grabbed him by the throat again -Tony thought, it was really becoming old.. "I've had enough of you. Pity for your pretty woman, but you will die. At least you won't ever have to feel guilty about caring more for your superhero identity than her."

"You didn't see us having sex, did you? That would be unfair, i just saw lots of daddy complex."

Loki slammed him against the wall. Tony's back ached at the impact, but he bit his teeth together, preventing himself from screaming. Loki dragged him around like a doll and by this point, every fiber of Tony´s body resonated with pain.

He should probably refrain from the inappropriate comments, but if he was going to die, it was with a comment about a god´s erectile dysfunction on his lips.

Loki let go of his throat and grabbed his shoulder instead, which wasn't better. Tony was sure, the only thing missing was the sound of his bones cracking. He internally cursed. Apparently waiting for his suit to show up was hopeless.

"Alright, alright! Just wanted to make sure, 'cause that would be awkward, with that first person view. I wonder if i would've ..."

Tony's breath hitched as he was interrupted by the sensation of cold steel against his flesh.

"Enough with the blathering," Loki said.

"Come on." Tony swallowed. "We both know that's an empty threat right? We do, 'cause you told me you wouldn't kill me. Remember?"

Loki held a little sharp dagger against his throat.

"I might now," he deadpanned. "Just to stop this chatter of yours."

"You're insulting me! People actually pay to hear me speak, you know."

"I still do not hear you shutting up."

"You're getting profane, mighty god." Tony couldn't help it. He was uncomfortable with Loki being close to him. So close that he could probably hear Tony's flat breathing, smell his cold sweat and feel his rapidly beating pulse.

Loki gritted his teeth. "You believe I find this amusing, even entertaining, this banter. You will see just how right you are with that."

He grabbed Tony's shoulder even harder and brought them closer together. Tony drew a rapid breath, never taking his eyes off of Loki, who now bent forward until his lips were close to Tony's ear.

"I will find it just entertaining enough, to taint the floor with your blood," Loki hissed.

 **A feeling of horror struck him, as he actually felt the blade ease into his skin.**


	2. Harsh Contrast

**Hey there! I hope you are enjoying the story so far! If so, please leave me your feedback, it would be a delight! ;***

By that point, Tony had forgotten all about having called his suit.

Neither Tony nor Loki saw it coming, when the suit rushed out of the lift and crushed right into Loki's side. He was slammed against Tony's waterfall wall on the other side of the room. Tony took the chance to hold out his arms for the armour to attach itself onto him and immediately addressed Jarvis when his faceplate locked with his helmet. "Hell, what took you so long?"

"I am very sorry, Sir," Jarvis said. "There have been complications with the setup process."

"Guess that needs to be refined."

Tony knew he was still in no position to fight Loki off, but at least he couldn't try to slit his throat any more. He felt a thin trail of blood trickle down his chin, where Loki's dagger had cut into his skin.

"Sir. The cut at your throat should be treated to avoid infection,"Jarvis advised.

"Yeah, little time for that now."

Tony watched Loki pick himself up from the floor. He looked royally pissed, like a cat thrown into the bathtub, dripping wet with his hair sticking to his head. Just when he had managed to straighten himself up, the window behind him burst. Tony blinked and then Thor was pinning Loki to the wall by the throat.

"Hey, hands off, he's mine!" Tony called, despite being glad that Thor had shown up. He hadn't been sure how to go on from this point. Escaping would likely have been the only option. And so not like Tony.

"What do you think you're doing, Loki?" Thor growled and loosened his grip from Loki's throat to let him speak.

"Can't you see?" Loki mocked, huffing out a short laugh. "I am freeing mankind from the shackles freedom puts them in."

"This is deranged! Do you not see this? It can't escape you that your goals are hollow."

"Are they now?" Loki laughed again. "I haven't been asking you."

"You should've," Tony chimed in, "instead of trusting some guy in space who promises you the world."

Thor kept his grip firm around Loki's neck, but turned to face Tony. "What are you talking about, Stark?"

"Well, while you were flying around with your magic hammer, I had a look into your brother's neat mind. Not that he digged it," Tony said, as Loki gritted his teeth.

"But the point is, I think Mr. Almighty here has fallen victim to some guy he has turned to makes my skin crawl." Tony wasn't exaggerating either. The thought of the memory made the hair on his skin turn upright.

Thor turned to Loki again. "Who are you working with, brother? Who is constraining you?"

Thor loosened his grip, so Loki could speak. "No one! Why would I let anyone force my hand after all these years of suppression you made me undergo?"

"Did you look yourself in the eye? You have succumbed to madness, brother. You do not see what you are getting yourself into…,"

Tony didn't know what to do. He felt vain just being spectator to the scene that unfolded, but this was a moment only between Thor and Loki, nothing for him to meddle with. Yet he couldn't help but recall Loki's memory of how Thor pushing Loki off that tree. He didn't know anything about these guys' backstory, but what he had seen in Loki's head made him wonder.

"... I beg you," Thor whispered. "Come back home with me."

"Why? So you and Odin can leave me to rot in chains?"

"No." Thor shook his head. "It'´s not too late to turn back now. But it will soon be. If you do not stop now, you won't be permitted to make amends anymore."

At that, Loki shoved his hand against Thor's chest and sent him flying backwards with a burst of magic. "I DO NOT WANT TO MAKE AMENDS!"

Tony tried to shoot him with his repulsor, but Loki saw it coming and sidestepped it. "Why, to return to that sorry state of being overshadowed ?! How would you understand, 'Brother?'"

Thor managed to land on his feet. Tony could see the gears in his head turning, trying to come up with the right thing to say. Finally, he drew a deep breath and spoke.

"We are family."

"No," Loki hissed. " We are not. We never were."

"Sorry to interrupt Family Matters," Tony said, addressing Thor. "But I think Loki is just stalling for time until the portal opens."

"Precisely," Loki said, raising his gaze. "But there is nothing you can do to stop it either way."

Thor bit his lip, then took a few huge steps towards Loki, who stiffened but didn't move. "We can't!" he said. "No, you are right, we can not thwart your plans. But you can! Loki, you are not thinking are hurt, I can see that, but I also know my brother! He would have never come up with something so imprudent!"

Loki swallowed and blinked rapidly. Like someone who wanted to keep his eyes from watering up. "The person you speak of no longer exists. Since that day in Jotunheim he is gone. He will never come back."

"Loki…" Thor's voice broke off and Tony found there was something heartbreaking about seeing a massive guy like him on the verge of tears.

"... Loki," he repeated. He reached for Loki's shoulder, maybe hoping to get to him through touch. But then, Loki vanished in a flash of green light, leaving Thor standing in Tony's living room. His hand still hung mid-air, lost.

Tony let out a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding. "You alright?"

Thor shook his head. "Why won't he give in?" He raised his gaze to meet Tony's. "He is going to ruin everything, for everyone and himself, just because he is too thick-headed."

Tony shrugged."Yeah, but you reap what you sow."

"I was once like this as well. I cannot let my brother walk that path."

Tony wasn't convinced that Loki had a good core, after he had tried to slit his throat a few minutes before. But if Thor was right, it was only in their best interest if the guy came back to his senses and dropped his schemes. "There is one more thing you haven't tried,"

Thor looked at him and waited.

"You know, we had that weird connection, never mind now. But he does appear pretty attached to your mother," Tony said, walking over to his bar.

"He is." Thor nodded. "But father didn't find it appropriate to send the queen away from Asgard."

"Well, do you think she could persuade him?" Tony asked, while picking up a new glass of scotch. The old one had shattered on the floor and its content was spilled all over the floor.

Thor nodded. "Yes, if someone is capable of getting to him now, it can only be Mother."

"Easy thing to do then." Tony sipped his drink. "Get her down here."

It hadn't been as easy as it sounded, when Tony suggested it. Odin wasn't jubilant about the idea but he couldn't withstand his wife's persistence in the matter. Until the last second Frigga had hoped Thor alone would be persuasive enough, but as soon as she heard she was now the only hope left for her son's fate, there was no holding her back.

And that was how she came to appear in Tony's tower. Compared to Loki's memory, she was even more beautiful in person. Tony just hoped that Pepper wouldn't show up now, because every woman in the world would grow jealous of such beauty.

They didn't waste time with introductions.

Frigga asked right away, "Where is he?"

"We do not know," Thor admitted. "When we tried to get to him before, he vanished."

"I always hoped it wouldn't end anywhere near this," Frigga said, addressing Thor. "I hoped he would be a light to shine on his own."

"He mentioned that," Thor said. His ever so proud and upright posture sunk down. "Being overshadowed."

"Your father and you cast large shadows. But you mustn't blame yourself for that, my son. It is me and your father who should have conducted differently."

Tony coughed. Discussing those matters was without doubt pivotal, but this was not the time for it. Maybe they didn't feel the weight of the threat hanging over his home-planet, but he did. They had tried to shut down the portal by themselves but apparently they needed Loki's sceptre for that.

Frigga noticed. "I apologize," she said. "I am locating Loki all at once."

She closed her eyes and her lips moved, as if she was mumbling something. So, magicians needed incantations after all. Tony had wondered about that.

"I know where he is." Frigga opened her eyes again. "Let us hope for the best," she told Thor, then dissolved in an all too similar fashion to Loki's.

Hope was a neat thing, but Loki lately had taken a liking to destroy neat things. So as Frigga returned, her shoulders were hunched forward and the white of her eyes had a tint of red in them. She just shook her head and no one dared to ask how it had gone. Tony handed her a glass of water and she took it, nodding in gratitude.

"Guess we'll have to kick his butt." Tony said.

Once more, Frigga shook her head. "He hasn't made up his mind yet."

"Then why do you look so downcast mother?" Thor asked.

Frigga pressed her lips together, then took a step forward and locked her hands with Thor's. She took a deep shaky breath. "The queen of Asgard should be wise, and yet it has taken me until now to realize that Loki is never going to be the same he was."

A sob escaped her lips. "He is broken, I have lost him."

She leaned her face into Thor's chest and cried. Thor wrapped his arms around her. "He is not lost," he assured. "I know it."

Tony was more on Frigga's side in that, but he wouldn't say anything. If it had been hard to watch Thor bite back his tears before, it was horrible to watch a mother's pain at the loss of a son. Even if he was -as Tony had heard Thor say- not her own flesh and blood.

Loki and Selvig were gone. As was the portal. Loki probably found it too dicey leaving it so close too Tony,him being a genius and all that. And as nothing else was happening either at the moment, Tony offered Thor and his mother a place for staying the night. She thanked him with a little bow and they retired for the night.

As Tony stood in the lift riding back up to his living room, he shot Pepper a text.

 **Tony-08:23 PM-**

 _Sorry, you can't come back yet. It's not safe. I'll get back to you tomorrow. Love you 3_

Pepper responded right away and Tony figured she had her phone with her.

 **-Pep-08:23 PM-**

 _I'm worried, Tony. Promise me that you will watch out for yourself._

 **Tony-08:24 PM-**

 _Promise._

Tony couldn't help but wonder. His father had cast a large shadow too, but Tony had never felt compelled to react to that with villainous actions. Then again, he had been a bit of an asshole before the incident in Afghanistan. Egoistic-if he wasn't still-, irresponsible, reckless, inconsiderate, yes all that, but never that messed up.

"Sir, you have a intruder." Jarvis said.

"What? Where?"

"It appears he is in your living room at the moment. I am sorry, the sensors in the area were damaged by Thor earlier today."

The doors of the lift slid open and Tony stepped outside. He could tell something was askew, even if it was all silent in the room. There was this sensation again that made the hairs on his neck stand up.

"Some light, Jarvis."

The contrast of white marble tiles against the deep red of blood was mesmerizing. A trail of blood led around the corner towards his bar. Tony swallowed. The sight screamed cold blooded murder, as seen in TV-crime scenes. He rounded the corner and froze at the sight.

Loki stood in front of his bar, downing one of Tony's most delicate bottles of Whisky like it was ice tea. At his approach, Loki glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before he went on drinking.

The bobbing of his Adam's Apple distracted Tony for moment from what a bloody mess the guy was. His clothing was torn and his breastplate had been pierced.

"Sure, make yourself comfy," Tony said, after he had overcome a moment of surprise. "Oh, the blood? Don't worry, Dumm-E can clean it up later."

Loki just snorted and that didn't clear up for Tony whether he was merely in too bad of a shape to laugh or if he still tried to sell to Tony that he found his jokes irritating rather than funny. Which was a ludicrous thing. Tony was freaking hilarious.

Upon a closer inspection, Tony noticed the glowing cube that Loki had clutched in his left hand. "Is that the Tesseract? Why, I'm flattered you're trying to lure me in with presents, but I'll have to decline. I am not too much into the sadistic stuff."

"You mustn't touch it," Loki said. "Your skin wouldn't react well to that."

"Yeah, thank you for not making me burn until my skin peels off."

"Pleasure," Loki croaked. He placed the bottle of whisky on the counter to grab hold of the tables edge with his free hand and doubled over until his face was no longer visible to Tony. He coughed and made a sickening sound that reminded Tony of many hangover nights he had spent bent over a toilet bowl.

However, it was no bile that trickled down Loki's chin down to the floor. It was thick and deep red blood. Even standing that far away, Tony could hear his strained breathing. It occurred to him that this was the perfect moment to call SHIELD to take him prisoner again, or to take revenge on him for the murder attempt earlier. It was a great opportunity to humiliate him.

He found himself intrigued by the idea, but also by the fact that the one who Loki sought out when he was throwing up blood, was him.

And he had yet to find out who could beat Loki up like this.

"So, you needed a drink, big fella?"

"Just a little something against the pain."

"Yeah, I wonder about that. Who managed to work you up like that? Cause I´m considering recruiting him for the team."

Loki snorted. "The Chitauri weren't overly fond of my decision."

Tony raised his eyebrow in suspicion and took a few steps towards the god. "You're telling me you gave up, is that it? Mommy sweet talked you into submission. And you're here. My place. Not seeking out Thor or SHIELD."

Once more, Loki coughed and Tony caught himself staring at his thin lips as he wiped away the trail of blood that ran out of them in a swift uncaring motion. "Impressive deduction, so what?"

"So, I guess you're here because I owed you a drink. "

Loki smirked. "What other reason would there be?"

"Honestly though. An 80 year old Bartonshire Irish Whisky, and you down it just like that? You got nerves."

"I've had worse," said Loki. He could still stand without staggering, which was noteworthy considering that the bottle standing in front of him was empty and Loki had finished it in less than two minutes. With Loki's high tolerance, buying Loki drinks for one evening would be tough, even with Tony's wealth.

Tony''d end up rolling around on the floor, before you could even accuse Loki of being tipsy.

His phone buzzed. He was about to glance at the screen when Jarvis diverted his attention. "Sir, we have a situation outside."

He had to reprogram Jarvis to get straight to the point. Tony placed the phone on the counter and shared a short look with Loki. His expression was arcane. "Fill me in," Tony said.

"Unspecified life forms are currently attacking the city, Sir."

Loki coughed again, and droplets of blood covered the counter."Ah, yes, something you ought to know."


	3. Coma

"You led the army here?!"

"I didn't lead them. They were hounding me."

Tony rubbed his eyebrow with his palm and groaned. "How about next time, you tell me that first? That there is a bloody army of aliens in the city."

"They are few," Loki said. "And the portal is now shut off."

"Yeah, but they roughed you up."

"No, not them."

"Lemme guess, the guy with the eerie voice."

"I do not know who you are referring to," Loki said, leaning on the counter. Despite his attempt for causality, clearly his wounds were causing him great pain, but Tony decided he didn't care.

"Your prince charming, you know," Tony said, imitating a deep voice. "Fulfilling your deepest longings."

Loki dropped his gaze, looking sombre. Then, he laughed. "Oh yes, well he couldn't dream of it."

Even though Tony was still uneasy about the god lurking around in his living room, he needed to see what was going on outside, so he turned to walk away.

Loki appeared miserable and not at all tempted to draw out his dagger again. That was none of Tony's business, not to mention he had time on his hands, but if he did, he would've loved inquiring on the topic just to humiliate Loki.

Turning towards the lift, he said, "Jarvis, wake up Thor and Frigga. Also, keep an eye on Loki."

The lift's doors closed behind him. At that moment, Tony's phone, which laid forgotten on the counter, lit with two consecutive messages.

 **-Pep-20:41-**

 _Tony, the city is under attack. I'm worried. Are you alright?_

 **-Pep-20:44-**

 _Okay, I'm coming over._

Everyone filed out onto Tony's roof observing the situation. Natasha, Clint and Steve had arrived in a Helicarrier after Tony met up with Thor and his mother, both of whom were already awake by the time Jarvis attempted to stir them up. Loki had dragged himself outside as well.

"What is he doing here?!" Clint clenched his teeth together, his hand ready to grab at his weapon, but then, Frigga stepped forward and stood between her son and the other Avengers. "Listen, I know my son has caused you great distress and I would like to apologize for that. But he has agreed to give up on his plans and returning home with Thor and me. I am sure we can find a way to let the matter rest."

"Yeah, sure. And therefore an alien army is in the city," Clint said. "I don't know about you, but it doesn't look like surrender to me."

"I hate to destroy the diplomacy," Bruce said, "but I agree with Clint on this point."

"Surely Loki can explain," Thor said.

Loki scoffed. "This is hardly the whole army. It's only a derisory fraction. I shut down the portal almost immediately after it opened."

"Yeah," Clint breathed deeply, controlling his temper. "I don't believe you."

"I do not see the whole army attacking your city," Loki said.

"Where is your sceptre?" Bruce asked. "You should hand it over."

Loki's jaw twitched and he glanced away, clearly unnerved. "I don't have it. Thanos took it back."

"See." Clint said, self satisfied. "Doesn't look too good for you."

"Listen," Loki hissed. "I can't change what happened.."

"Yeah," Bruce interfered. "But maybe you're lying to us."

Natasha studied Loki quietly. She had been trained seeing signs for someone's trustability. "I can't be sure with him." she finally said.

"Guys," Tony started. "I know there is some back story with Loki. But let's put those aliens ahead of that issue."

"Ridiculous," Loki commented and pulled his dagger out. "You will need my assistance."

"No," Tony addressed Loki. "You'll stay here. I want you monitored."

"Mr. Stark is right," Frigga intervened. "You musn't involve yourself in battle. The injuries you carry look alarming." She cast a worried look over Loki's body.

Loki gritted his teeth in frustration, but eventually slid his weapon back into his clothing.

They watched the strange alienate creatures on flying scooters rush through the city, firing at cars, people and buildings without a distinct objective.

"They aren't many," Natasha pointed out. "If we split up, they won't be any trouble."

"Well, you heard her," Steve said. Clint hesitated for a moment, before finally sighing. "Fine, let's kick some ass first."He glared at Loki. "And we are not done yet."

"Okay," Steve announced. "I will go east, Tony can go to the north of the city, Natasha and Bruce can go west and Clint, you'll check the south."

Tony's faceplate snapped shut and he took after a group of three Chitauri sighted near a big bank building. Hovering in the air, he hit one of them with a blast from his repulsors; it wiggled for a moment and then fell down into a tree's crown. The other two bailed and disappeared behind a skyscraper.

Speeding up his suit, he followed the couple left around the building, dodged two blasts aimed for him and pursued them through Central Park.

"Fast, ugly fuckers," he mumbled, trying to hit them with another blast. It caught one of the Chitauri and sent it crashing right into an imposing birch tree. Before he could celebrate, Tony was sent flying backwards by a massive blast, the remaining Chitauri had fired at him. He only barely managed catching himself before dropping into a duck pond.

"No, no, no, no, you don't." He gritted his teeth, then blasted away from the pond's surface, slamming right into the alien and knocking it off its scooter. Without the vehicle, it was easy dealing with it. Tony sidestepped three shots from the falling alien, then shot it square in the head with a repulsor blast, sending bits of aliens brain flying all over the place. Slushy purple liquid rained down onto the side walk and Tony dreaded, his armour had might also have gotten a metro sexual new paint-job.

"Guys, I could use a hand here," he heard Steve say over the intercom. He was battling a group of four in a street containing a few cinemas and restaurants. People were staring out, anxious, but still pressing their faces against the glass. The curiosity of some never failed in surprising Tony. Even when their life was at stake, they couldn't avert their eyes.

"You got my back?" Steve asked.

"Like a masseur," Tony replied.

He helped Steve pummel the remaining Chitauri into the ground and then landed before a coffee shop. People were cautious but as soon as they realized that the threat was gone, they poured out of the coffee shop, gathering around Tony and Steve, cheering and throwing questions at them.

"How's it looking guys?" Tony asked over the communication system.

Natasha sounded strained but satisfied. "I don't see any more of those bastards. We have some injured civilians, but Frigga came to take care of it. Get back here." she said and hung up.

"Seems like we saved the day." Tony breathed a sigh of relief

Steve broke into a loose smile. "Great work, Tony."

Waving it off, Tony said, "Yeah, buddy, flattery won't get you anywhere."

Steve laughed. "How about I'll treat you all to drinks this evening?"

"Great idea. But i have a bar at home."

"That's not the same! And, if you argument like that, I could never - "

Jarvis's voice cut through Steve's sentence. "Sir, Miss Potts has just entered the Stark Tower."

"What?!" Tony exclaimed, still on speaker. Steve stopped talking upon his outburst. "Put me through. And check Loki's whereabouts."

"Right away, sir. I am now connecting you to Miss Potts. Mr Odinson hasn't moved from the Tower's roof since the Avengers dispatched."

"What is it, Tony?" Steve asked, catching onto his concern. "What happened?"

Tony spared him no answer and took off in the direction of the Stark Tower. Damn this mad god, they should've never left him alone.

"Tony? Are you alright?" Pepper asked as soon as they connected.

"Pepper, I'm alright, but I need you to do something for me. Don't wonder about it too much now and get out of Stark Tower, alright?" Tony said, trying to control his anxiety at the thought of Pepper and Loki in the same building. "I'm hurrying back now, but I need you to leave before that."

"What, why?" Pepper asked, confused, before she caught on. "Tony, what is going on in the building?"

"Okay look," he said. "I know this is our private area, but we had to leave Loki there. He gave up on-"

"Loki?!" she exclaimed, and Tony winced. Pepper often was annoyed by him, but he knew that tone of voice. She only used it when she found that Tony had done something profoundly stupid and often dangerous. "Tony, I can't believe you- !"

"Miss Potts, I must ask you to exit the tower now. This is a matter of your safety."

Pepper let out a frustrated noise, before the rapidly clanking noise of her high heels followed. Tony let out a sigh of relief at the knowledge that she was leaving. "Don't think I don't know what you two are doing. Jarvis, you can't always cover for him and Tony, we're having a long talk when you -"

Static covered the rest of Pepper's words. Tony tensed. Stark tech didn't randomly have static like that.

"Jarvis, what happened?!" Tony asked, speeding the suit up. Blood rushed inside his ears and all he could think was: _Loki was right_. His preference of his superhero identity had once again endangered Pepper. "Pepper, Pepper, are you still there?"

"Sir," Jarvis said. "My signal with the Tower has been disrupted. I'm attempting to reconnect right now."

Tony heard the click the moment they reconnected and breathed a sigh of relief, only to freeze at the words he heard from the other end.

"Tony? Tony? What's going on? The lights went off. I can't see anything..."

"What?! Jarvis, what is going on in Stark Tower?"

"I'm afraid I cannot say, Sir. Something is interfering with the Tower's system."

Tony cursed. "Pepper, get out of there!"

"I don't know where to go. Everything is full of smoke!"

"Where did all the smoke come from?! Jarvis, can you guide her?"

"The smoke came from an unknown origin, Sir, about two minutes ago. The ventilation system is not working and I'm afraid I cannot see Miss Potts from any of the cameras through all the smoke." On a line directly connected to the Iron Man suit and not shared with Pepper's line, Jarvis added, "Sir, a camera outside caught Mr. Odinson entering the living room."

" _Loki!_ " Tony hissed angrily. Of course it was him. Tony was an idiot having believed that he gave up. Thor had told him his brother was cunning. He should have taken it more seriously. Now that little rat had Pepper within his reach.. His mind scrambled for an idea. There was no way Pepper could get out of the Tower if she couldn't see and Jarvis couldn't assist. "Just… Pepper, just hide somewhere. I'm coming back right now!"

He tried to not think about how ineffective it was, hiding against a man like Loki.

"I can't believe this is happening to me," Pepper said, near tears as he heard clothes rustle as she moved. "I can't believe you dragged me into something like this again." Tony said nothing, knowing, she was a little bit like him when she was nervous, talking too much. He heard her take a deep breath, before saying, "Okay, I felt my way behind a couch."

"Great, Pepper, you're doing great," he babbled. "Just stay there until - "

"Tony?" Pepper said in a small voice, and Tony felt his stomach drop. "I can hear someone breathing..."

"Pepper," Tony started, not knowing what to say but so desperately wanting to be reassuring. Before he could say anything, a shriek rang out, short and loud. "Pepper? Pepper?!"

There was no reply.

Seconds later only, Tony reached his tower. A window burst before him and Loki crashed outside onto the floor, covered in a million glass shards. He coughed and struggled to get up.

"Where's Pepper?!" Tony said. "What did you do?!"

" I haven't done anything!" Loki said. His voice sounded strained. Without success he once more tried straightening up, but a thick glass shard had been driven right through his leg and he tried pulling it out.

Tony lifted his head and saw that the majority of his living room was filled with pitch black smoke. And then, there was Pepper, motionless on the floor in front of the panorama windows. He rushed to her side and knelt beside her.

"Jarvis," Tony called, panicked. Please, please let her be alright.

"Miss Potts has a pulse, Sir," Jarvis said. "She is merely unconscious with no visible wound, although her vitals are stran-" Tony startled, alarmed, when Jarvis cut himself off. "Sir, I detect an unknown presence in your vicinity."

Tony's head jerked up at those words, to the sight of a massive man lurking in the shadows, the sceptre in his hand shedding light on the man's disturbing, grinning face.

"What a shame it is, to see a body this sweet inanimate."

Tony recognized that raucous voice. He heard him speak, in Loki's mind.

 _Thanos._

The words sent shivers down his spine.

"What business do you have with her? What are you?!" Tony spat.

"There is no business yet, but from now on we will have one."

"And if I refuse?!" Tony asked, clenching Pepper's prone body closer to him, knowing before the other man even spoke.

"She will never awaken again." Tony gritted his teeth. "And I will crush this precious world of yours. You think that a meagre god was a threat to your planet? Think again."

"What do you want?!" Tony stood.

"My body here is no more than a puppet, a copy. Yet I wield the power this minuscule god was unworthy of. It is the thing that can save your woman and I will take it away with me."

"What do you want?!" Tony repeated, biting back the tears stinging in his eyes.

Thanos's laugh made Tony shiver.

"Our business is simple. I want you to bring me the Tesseract and the Stone of Time, hidden somewhere in your world. Deliver them, and she will open her eyes and I will refrain from attacking this planet."

"You are a fool if you think he will agree to that." Tony didn't have to turn around to know that it was Loki. "He has honour, contrary to - "

"- you?" Thanos mocked. "You want to preach to me about honour? About love? People will do anything for love."

Loki stopped next to him. "There is always more than one way to achieve something."

"Not everyone stabs their loved ones into the back like you did," Thanos said. "A human heart is weak. Eventually you will come around, Tony Stark."

"What?" Tony said. "So all this fuss, 'cause Loki betrayed you?!"

 _Why?_ He thought. _Why does Pepper have to pay for this?_

"It's a win-win situation. However, you decide -and you will-, the terrible outcome will be his fault. He planned to bargain for redemption, didn't you, little prince?"

Loki pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes.

"He led me here. For that he will never be forgiven. Won't you cry now, _king_?" He mocked, sneering. "Your fate was sealed ever since you fell into my hands."

There was a moment of silence. Tony's breath got stuck in his throat. Loki lowered his head. "Maybe," he said. Then he raised his head. "Maybe I am guilty. But your time is running out and as foolish as I believe the man, Stark wouldn't sacrifice his whole planet for one live, as precious it might be. So maybe yes, very likely that I am for the axe, but that will get you no step further."

"Maybe I just like to play fair," Thanos said. "Traitors get punished, that's fair."

He didn't wait for Loki's answer and spoke to Tony. "You should be careful with your decision. If you cooperate, I may just reserve you a comfortable spot in the world I am creating."

"The hell you are creating anything," Tony spat out. "You don't know me. Let me tell you, you don't blackmail Tony Stark."

"I will keep that in mind," Thanos said and his body dissolved, along with the smoke.

Tony sank down next to Pepper again and shook her. "C'mon, you're not injured. Just open your eyes, Pep."

"It's hopeless," Loki said.

Tony's head snapped up, his eyes blazing with fury.

Although Loki could in theory still kill him, no fear was left, just pure pulsing rage.

"Shut up! You know what? He was right about one thing. This is your fault, your responsibility. How are you gonna make up for that? Do you even care?!"

Loki raised an eyebrow at him. "Am I known as a caring person?"

Tony just glared at Loki and balled his fists. He said nothing, waiting.

Loki crossed his arms. "Why should I care? They're going to behead me, justice served."

"I don't need justice served, I don't care about your head, I care about Pepper! I need her back."

Loki smirked. "Just hand over what he asked you for. You can start with this." He retrieved the little blue cube from underneath his robes.

"How do you have this?!"

"Does it matter?" Loki held out the tesseract. "Take it. Getting your hands on the time stone should be easy enough."

"Why?"

"You want to save the woman."

"No, I mean why are you offering it to me?"

Loki shrugged. "By law, I am a dead man walking. I'd rather give the cube away then return it to Asgard."

"I don't believe you," Tony said. "You'd be dooming your family with this. You'd be dooming your brother and mother. Not even you are capable of that."

"You don't know what I am capable of."

"You're testing me."

"Am I?"

"You know what? I'm not playing his game and I'm not playing yours. Another way might not be apparent right now, but how can I call myself Tony Stark if I couldn't invent one?"

He picked Pepper up and carried her towards the couch. As he laid her head down onto a cushion, everyone started filing in. Steve, Thor, Frigga, Clint, Bruce and at last, Natasha. The next half hour went away in a blur of concerned questions and looks. Clint blamed Loki of purposely endangering Pepper. Steve kept asking if there was any way to help her. And Frigga had to say again and again that there wasn't any aid that she knew of. All Tony could do was stare at Pepper's face and give brief answers. He barely heard Thor and Frigga confronting Loki. Tony was too engaged pondering to grasp the sense of their talk. His head ached.

Still, no one but him knew about the conditions Thanos had offered Tony. Save Loki. And Loki wasn't going to enlighten the Avengers when they still see him as enemy and vice versa. Tony knew the tesseract was still with Loki. He could still take him up on the offer and bail. He could even get away with it.

"Guys, I'm worked up," Clint said. He turned to Tony. "Hey, you alright?"

Tony shook his head.

"Can I get you something? Something to drink?"

"No, thanks. You're welcome to scavenge the bar though."

Clint considered him for moment, then nodded. "Thanks."

"I could use a drink too," Natasha said.

"Guess we all could." Clint agreed.

While everyone followed Clint to the bar. even Bruce who didn't drink, Loki stayed behind and walked towards Tony. "Have you made up your mind? As my fate is sealed, I can claim I hid it somewhere. No suspicion directed towards you. Until it's too late, that is."

Tony stared at Pepper's unmoving face. It hurt, knowing he could do nothing, not with his own hands. No amount of money in the world or hours of working in the lab could help her. Then, after a long minute, he shook his head. "I don't want it."

Loki stared at him. "I know Thanos very well. I spent more time in his presence than I wish I did. If he realizes you won't cooperate, he will kill her. One way or another."

"Is that any worse than what she is right now, not dead or alive? She wouldn't even feel, it right?" Tony asked. "No pain."

"Death is always full of pain."

Tony wasn't certain why he'd asked. This was a trolley problem. No right solutions.

"He cannot hurt her physically," Loki went on." But I am not so sure about her mind."

Tony gulped. "He can torture her?"

"Being in possession of the mind stone, he now certainly has the ability to."

"But...how is he going to kill her if he can't hurt her physically?"

"A mind is feeble," Loki said. "Easily manipulated, easily bent. People can hurt themselves."

Tony gulped. His hands were cold.

"Then... I will make him believe in my cooperation."

"And then what?"

The question hung in the air between them, for once leaving Tony clueless. He didn't want Pepper suffering. He didn't want her to die. She didn't deserve that fate.

Even though he believed his own fate to be fixed, Loki had been more considerate than Tony would've given him credit for. After that murder attempt earlier, he wasn't convinced Loki was concerned about his or Pepper's well being, or feeling guilty for anything. To Tony this seemed a little fishy, but he knew from several experiences, facing the threat of death sometimes made people show a glimpse of their true heart. If this was a glimpse at Loki's, well, it only confused Tony more.

With Thanos's attack on Pepper, Loki's popularity sagged even more. No one wanted him around, but they needed to wait for Odin to conjure them back to Asgard.

Eventually they decided if they put the muzzle and handcuffs on him and Bruce stood guard in front of the door, the risk would be assessable enough. Tony agreed to watch him for a few hours in the early morning so Bruce could catch some sleep. Tony wondered if Loki still had the tesseract hidden inside his robes and wondered why he hadn't told anyone yet. Was he still thinking of accepting Thanos's offer? He couldn't tell. Why was nobody thinking of it? He was the only one who had seen Loki in possession of the cube, but didn't anyone else wonder where it had gone?

His bed felt empty without Pepper beside him. He had always been the one to warm her up, but still he felt cold and drew the sheets tighter around himself. He stared outside and wondered if her soul was flying around somewhere, just separated from her body, maybe floating in the empty space beside him. She was now in a bed for herself, surrounded by medical equipments in a hospital. He could still hear the aggressive sound of the heart-monitors ringing in his ears and his head wouldn't stop hurting.

Sometime between 3AM and 4AM he dozed off a little. His dreams consisted of brief flashing images, none of them clearly recognizable. He saw Pepper, for sure. And Thanos. He saw a light. He saw darkness. He fell again, he realized it wasn't him falling, realized being caught in Loki's memories again. And then he woke up, sitting up in his bed. And he knew what he was going to do.

"What do you think, big guy think you can do that for me?"

Thor shot him weary look. "I don't know, Anthony."

"I just want to talk to him. I need to ask him...about Thanos, I want to ask him what he knows."

"He won't answer you."

"He will. Okay, well maybe not. But I have to try. It's about Pepper, I have to try everything! And he still has the handcuffs on."

Thor placed his glass down onto the counter and looked out into the dark night. "Is this going to be a secret?"

"Not exactly," Tony said." But I don't see why I should make a public announcement."

Thor sighed.

Loki sat on his bed when Thor entered the room. It was dark, except for the moonlight streaming in through the window and it cast a ghostly light over Loki's body. Slowly, on its own, the lights came on in dimmed orange tones.

Thor looked at Loki, who didn't raise his head. He seemed to be constantly scowling with the muzzle on his mouth and his eyebrows were drawn together in irritation.

Thor went to kneel before the bed and took the muzzle off.

"What is it?" Loki asked, piercing Thor with his gaze. It was good, Loki had listened to Frigga. But then again, Thor wished he would've listened to him. They had been so close and now there was nothing between them. "Stark...wants a talk with you."

Thor stood up and looked Loki into the eye. His eyes once had been such a vulnerable thing to look at, they had always been dark, a deep sea, but now they seemed to reach into the depths of hell. "How have we come to this?" Thor asked. "We should be Shield Brothers."

"Should we?"

Loki didn't even blink. He just stared back and there was no way for Thor any more to understand what was going on behind his eyes.

"I hope he doesn't want you dead." Thor said. "After what you did to his woman, he might have some influence on your sentence. He's one of Earth's most powerful men." He balanced the muzzle in his hands and walked out.

Loki sat very still. And waited.

Tony stood in front of Loki's door. If he stepped in there now and asked what he came to ask there was no turning back.

If you make a deal with Loki, that's final.

This was a stupid idea, it was bordering insane. Tony was about to turn back, roll into his sheets again and go back to sleep, because no good decision was ever made after 2AM. But then thought of Pepper again. He thought of her pale face between the pale sheets, the weak beeping of the heart monitor. And pushed down the door handle.

Loki's eyes met his.

"You expected me."

"Thor said you would come."

"No," Tony stepped into the room and closed the door. "You expected it all along."

Loki smirked.


	4. Contract

"I won't deny it."

"Well," Tony said and settled himself onto the couch that stood opposite the bed. "Tell me why I'm here."

"That is because I do not want to die, nor do I like the alternative of lifelong imprisonment, both of which are very likely outcomes for my situation unless…"

Loki left the sentence unfinished on purpose and Tony figured that he expected him to finish it. "Unless there was someone who needs you alive and unconfined."

"Exactly. I would like to show my good will about redeeming myself."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Loki leaned forward, locking his gaze with Tony's."No. And you need to be persuasive with my father. Saying 'pretty please' won't do. I am your only hope, you are desperate and one of Earth's most powerful claims to be wise, he will aim to stay in peaceful conditions with mostly, you are Thor's friend and he will insist on helping you. And our mother will be on both my and Thor's side. Therefore, he won't have much choice but to agree."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Tony said and raised his arms in defense. " Slow down your horses. I haven't agreed to anything yet."

"Why else would you come here? I was just trying to get the details across promptly."

Tony leaned back into the cushion. Loki was right. That was the reason he was here,because he wanted to make a deal. But now he was in the same room with Loki and that altered the situation. In your memory you see a color, more vibrant than it ever was, a night sky with more stars than it ever had and a woman of astonishing and unreal beauty. Tony saw Loki in his memory, less vicious. Less threatening and dangerous than he really was. He could tell by a glance into the man's eyes that he was far from sanity and a man like that hardly spoke true words.

He was too eager. Or was he? The lack of good sleep was confusing Tony's brain and he squeezed his brows together, forcing himself to concentrate.

"What now, Stark?"

"Shush, trying to think."

Loki made nasty sound out of the back of his throat, but he went mute and waited. He sat still, but Tony saw him tap two fingers against his left hands palm repeatedly. Was he nervous? He had good reasons to be. If Tony refused the deal he would have to face life-long confinement. Or death.

Then again, maybe he was faking that tick. Tony tilted his head.

"Give it up." Loki said.

"What?"

"Trying to see through me. If I was putting up an act, which I am not, you wouldn't be able to see through it."

He should've studied psychology after all.

All he could do was to rely on a trickster. It was the most paradoxical thing to do, yet the most logical. Tony stood up and held out his hand to Loki. "Right. Agreed. Let's make a deal."

Loki rose and took the offered hand. "Very well. Name your conditions. I believe we will need a contract."

About twenty minutes later Tony left the room and shut the door. Thor was still leaning against the wall. "How did it go?"

"Good." Tony said. "We made a deal."

"What?!" Thor pushed himself off the wall.

"A. Deal."

"What were you thinking?!"

Tony gulped as Thor's massive hands grabbed him by the shirt.

"I was thinking… that I want to save Pepper!"

Slowly Thor let go. "I assume you agreed on conditions."

"Yeah."

"Are they to your favor?"

"Loki wants me to convince your father that he deserves redemption."

Thor sighed. Loki didn't deserve a clean slate, but Thor had deep compassion for his brother and he would always hold onto the hope of getting close to him again. "You are my friend and helping people dear to you is a noble cause. Hereby I will help you within the range of my capabilities. But Father won't allow you into Asgard."

"But I need to talk to him! I need to persuade him!" Tony said.

Thor placed his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Let's talk about this elsewhere."

They settled down in the living room. Tony poured himself a drink, but he couldn't sit down. He felt jittery, like ants were crawling up his legs. He felt like he needed to take action immediately. Maybe he was making awful decisions here. If so, he couldn't tell. His brain had switched to Auto-Pilot. Emergency mode. Tony gulped down his whiskey in one big gesture. He was doing the right thing. He was doing the necessary thing. Still…

"What do you think about it?" he asked Thor, who sat on the couch, staring into space, the beer on the table untouched. He had a hard time sleeping too. There wasn't a single giveaway like shadows under his eyes, nothing like that. Someone good at analyzing people could probably point out all the tell-tale signs. To Tony, Thor's entire self just seemed tired. Simple as that.

He reached for the bottle, but didn't drink from it. "I think ...we are both compromised. Loki is exploiting our weaknesses."

"I don't feel like having much of a choice," Tony said.

"Neither do I," Thor agreed. "But look closely and you will see that we have. I would just have to let go of my foolish hopes."

"And I would have to accept that Pepper could get hurt." Tony paced back and forth, tightly clutching the glass. "What is Loki's play? Does he really seek redemption? Do you believe that?"

"It seems unlikely," Thor said. "Then again, I don't know what he and Mother talked about."

"She implied the talk went bad."

"I don't know. I think I was never good at guessing what Loki was thinking."

"So, we're back at this. I can't be sure about his motivations. But I am willing to take that risk. For Pepper."

Thor stood up, walked towards Tony and grabbed him firmly by the shoulders. "You are sure about this?"

"Yes."

"I will talk to father," Thor said. "I will pass on the conditions, and make it impossible for him to refuse."

"This isn't about helping me, is it?"

Thor let go of Tony's shoulders and walked a few steps to stare out into the night sky. "I still consider him my brother. Do you think I'm a fool?"

Tony stepped up beside him. "No. But I think Loki is one for not seeing it."

"He is. Seeing it. But Loki is still fretting over our past and he is not ready to forgive me."

" _He pushed me off the tree! He pushed me!"_

" _We were playing!"_

Tony said nothing.

He didn't talk to Loki anymore after this.

The night went by. Loki, Thor and Frigga took off to Asgard.

Seven days passed and Tony wondered if Loki had been killed after all. If so, was anyone going to tell him? He sat in a chair and watched Pepper's unmoving face in the dimmed light. The intaking of his breathing seemed to have matched with the beep-beep-beep of the heart monitor and he stared at the Mark Rothko he had hung up above her bed. It was two red and one eggshell yellow squares next to each other and it reminded him of life, of heartbeat. Up until now he had hated this kind of modern art. But Pepper had always loved it and now, for Tony, it stood for everything she had been. Neat and fiery. Compassionate but calm.

Tony buried his face in his palms, gritted his teeth and tasted tears on his lips. They were silent tears for a silent person. When the sun started to set outside, he decided to go home. He had been here for three days and after Loki had left, he hadn't talked to anyone except JARVIS and blocked all calls. Steve had called. Bruce had called. Clint had sent him a text and Natasha once came by. He hadn't let her in. He didn't take any calls and never replied to the text. Tony hadn't told anyone yet that he and Loki had made that deal, thatwhen he had entered the room they had locked Loki up in after they had left seven days ago, he found the tesseract shoved under the bed like a shoe box.

When he arrived home, the lights slowly came on and JARVIS greeted him. Tony retrieved a bottle of whisky from the bar and sat down on the couch. He turned the TV on. The voices floated around in the room without meaning, he watched their faces and found that they were all really fake.

"Do I look like that when I'm being filmed?" he asked JARVIS.

"I can assure you Sir, you are never adjusted accordingly."

"Good to hear."

Nearly every channel broadcasted about the attack on New York. There were lots of speculations, for no one really knew what had been going on. Endless news about the existence of aliens. About their origin. Nothing about Loki though. No one had managed to get any footage of him. Some people were confused, they told the media that they had taken pictures or videos with their smartphones, but the man they had seen was just gone.

Tony kicked off his shoes and placed his feet onto the table. Pepper would have hated it. So what? She wasn't here. He drank until he was able to laugh about a late-night comedy show. And then he fell asleep, the bottle slipping out of his hand and shattering against the floor.

"By the norns, this is disgraceful."

"Shut up, Loki. Be considerate."

A snort was heard. "Sure."

"Where are those voices coming from?"

"It's just the Television, Thor."

"Don't sound like that. I forgot."

"I'm sure you did."

The voices that made it through the thick fog into his head sounded familiar. Tony groaned. His head hurt so much. He felt like he wouldn't be able to open his eyes. Until he felt the terrifying sensation of someone suddenly standing very close to him. Tony heard a crunching sound. He squinted one eye open and made out a blurry silhouette. He blinked. And as the image turned sharp he saw Loki, bent over him, staring right into his face. "Did you try to kill yourself?"

"Nooo…" Tony said. "Five more minutes Mommy, turn the lights off."

Loki turned his back on Tony to face Thor. The glass shards he had stepped on crunched once more. "Is he serious?"

"He told me they call this a hangover here." Thor said. "He had too much to drink."

"I figured out that much."

Tony wondered why everyone sounded so pissed. Maybe it was because it was so fucking bright in here. "Can someone pull down the shades? Jarvis?"

"I suggest you to sober up, Sir. Loki and Thor have returned." JARVIS voice said, while the shades rolled down.

Slowly the sense of the words he had just heard got into Tony's head. He pushed himself upright, eyes still tightly squeezed together and studied the people in his living room. "Ah," he said, finally realizing that Loki was standing there. "I see your heads still on your shoulders. Nice."

"I have brought the contract," Thor said. "But I think it will be for the best if we save up all the explanations until you are...better."

"I'm good, good, perfectly fine," Tony said. He stood up, feeling a little wobbly, but he made it over to the espresso-machine. After pressing the button for a double shot, he went to search for some painkillers in the drawers. He swallowed two of them along with the shots and half a glass of water. "Will take like...two minutes and I'm fine. You'll see."

He sank down onto a barstool. Thor walked over and placed a big piece of parchment onto the table. "You should get some rest before we discuss this."

Tony felt bile rise in his throat. "Right," he said. He stood up, hurrying past Thor and Loki into the bathroom. Bent over the toilet-bowl, Tony threw up until his throat turned sore. He flushed and sank back against the wall. His legs felt like jelly, they wouldn't carry him if he tried to stand up right now.

He closed his eyes. Just for a little bit. To catch breath. His head fell back against the cool tiles of the wall. The bathroom suddenly seemed like the perfect place to sleep.

Until someone banged against the door.

"Anthony, are you alright?"

He groaned. "Yeaah, just lemme…, I need to…"

He struggled to get up again and opened the door. "Guess I really need a nap or two."

"Do you need help?"

"That's charming. I think I'll make it." Tony dragged his feet into his bedroom and plopped into the bed.

Ah, this was much better. So soft. He curled up in his blanket and closed his eyes again. Before he fell asleep, he wondered, for a moment, what Thor and Loki were going to do while he slept and imagined a funny scene of them struggling with his microwave.

It had dawned when he woke up again. A warm shade of orange spread through the windows over his blankets and somehow it made Tony feel hopeful. Loki had come back after all. He hadn't realized earlier, due to his state of severe intoxication, how relieved he was. Maybe the moment when he had opened the Whisky bottle, he had given up on his hope.

Tony took a quick shower, pulled on fresh clothes and found Thor and Loki still sitting around in his living room.,Loki stoically on one of the bar stools and Thor leaned back into the cushions on his couch to, watch a wildlife documentary on TV. He stood up when he saw Tony. "I see you are better, that's good."

"Sorry for that," Tony said, massaging his neck.

Thor said, "Don't worry about it."

Loki said nothing. He stroked the parchment with his long fingers.

Tony walked over and bent over the table to have a look at it.

It said that Loki was obligated to help him save Pepper- referred to as Tony Stark's partner- and bring her back to consciousness and full health. Furthermore he had agreed to avert any harm directed at Tony himself while they were pursuing that goal. If his good will was shown convincingly enough, the All-Father agreed to a complete redemption of Loki Odinson and his past deeds.

To control his actions -Tony frowned at the sentence- and prevent any situation in which Loki would manipulate or use Tony, he had agreed to having a wristband of runes engraved into his skin, which would allow the Asgardians to observe any use of magic he made. Loki's activity was to be watched by his mother, Frigga herself and Heimdall, the Gatekeeper of the Aesir.

To Tony it seemed that the contract covered everything vital, but he still wished Pepper was around to proofread it for him. Instead he made Jarvis scan the document and search for potential gaps in the verbalization. As his AI confirmed to him that the contract was safe, Thor handed him a quill. "You need to place your signature exactly beneath Loki's."

Tony took it, hesitated for a brief moment, then scribbled his name across the paper. Loki stood up and held his hand out to Tony. He stared at it.

"Is it not common here to shake hands after sealing a deal?" he asked.

"No, I mean, yeah it is." Tony slowly took Loki's hand and they shared a firm handshake. "I just feel like I'm trapped in a Dali. Every moment now, Ants will crawl out of my face and devour me."

Thor made a face. "What are you saying?"

Tony didn't blame him. He never really cared about paintings and arts either, up until Pepper fell into a coma.

Tony stared at Loki's arm. Engraved in his wrist were runes, glistening, snaking around his arm like liquid silver.

"Just that this whole thing feels surreal."


End file.
